Tequila Sunrise
by fnl
Summary: You've just been drinking straight tequila all night and the sun is coming up. JH. Chapter 9 UP.
1. It's Not That Easy

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, never will be.

**Notes:** So. Got the title from an Eagles song (or a drink, whatever floats your boat), but what else is new? In the blurb for the song, Don Henley says, ". . . he thought that it the title was a bit too obvious or too much of a cliché because of the drink that was so popular then. I said 'No - look at it from a different point of view. you've been drinking straight tequila all night, and the sun is coming up.'" and I thought it suited the story so well. I'm warning you now - this is going to be a mish-mash of popular JH clichés, all smushed together into one fic that's so clichéd it's orignal - hopefully. Anyways. I'll get on with it then, shall I?

Oh, but before I do, if you want to leave a review at the end, I'm much obliged. :) And I realise this is short. The chapters will increase in length.

**Tequila Sunrise**

Chapter 1 – It's Not That Easy

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**January 16, 1983**  
_Chicago, Illinois _

The summer sun was still low in the Chicago sky when a young woman, no more than twenty five, got out of a taxi on a residential street in the older part of town. She turned around to help a young girl out of the car and hand the driver some fives. The low sun cast long shadows as the girl giggled in delight, exclaiming excitedly, "Mummy, I'm stepping on your shadow!"

'Mummy' smiled distractedly as she pulled a suitcase out from the backseat. "Thanks," she said to the driver before shutting the rear passenger door, and stretching her arm out behind her for her young daughter to grab. She watched the car drive off down the street and started digging inside her purse for a small bear. "Here Soph," she said to the girl, who was clutching her mother's hand tightly. As the young girl took the toy from her, the woman pulled a small piece of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans, reading an address quietly to herself. Slipping the information back into her pocket, she picked up the suitcase. A quick glance around at the poorly visible house numbers directed her, and she began to lead her daughter towards what she hoped was the right house.

"Don't step on a crack, or you'll break your mother's back," Sophie chanted to herself, carefully jumping over the cracks in the road. "Mum, would it really break your back?" Slowing down, she toed one of the faults, and looked up to see that her mother was still alright, and now impatiently tugging her along.

"Sophie, hurry up," she said sharply, checking the house numbers again. The sun cast a red glow around them, and, had the woman not been so preoccupied, she would've taken the time to appreciate what a nice morning it was.

She pushed her black hair out of her face and continued to walk down the street, frowning when she reached the end of the block. "Apparently the taxi driver didn't know where he was going," she informed her daughter who was getting restless. As they crossed the street, Sophie jumping over all the cracks in the road on the way, the woman's mind continued whirring.

_Maybe there's two streets? Maybe it's supposed to say Rolson__street? What if he isn't even in Chicago? What if he's moved back home?_

And just as the young woman was beginning to reach rock bottom with her thoughts, completely sure she was going to have to go back to Wisconsin if she wanted to see anyone she knew, her eyes fell on the house number that matched the digits written on her paper.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to go up the small driveway, stopping only once she reached the door step to put down the suitcase and talk to her daughter. "Sophie," she began softly. "I'm going to go inside to talk to a man, okay? And while we're talking, I want you to be very quiet, and very good, alright?"

Her daughter nodded mutely, blue eyes wide with anticipation of what was to come. With another deep breath, the woman rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds, a man opened it. His hair was longer than when she'd last seen him, disheveled and messy from sleeping on it. Under his eyes there were bags, and he looked entirely unhappy to be answering the door at such an hour in the morning.

It seemed to take him a minute to comprehend who was standing in front of him, then his eyes widened. "Jackie?" he asked, his voice still scratchy from just waking up.

"Steven," she stated softly. "Can I come in?"

She got her answer when the door shut in her face, and she sucked in a breath, and turned to Sophie. "Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought," she muttered.


	2. Old Habits Die Hard

**Disclaimer:**If I thought I owned it, I'd be off trying to make money off of it.

**Notes/Summary: **Erm, I'm thinking this chapter will involve lots of dialogue, and lots of explanations, but it will also open up new, unexplained things. Don't worry, I know I did that, and I know that Hyde's reaction (you'll know what I'm talking about, if you don't already :P ) is a bit off. Don't worry ;) Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed. You have no idea how thrilled I was to open up my inbox to see twelve unread messages (even if five were totally unrelated), and then have three more trickle in after. You're great :D (Oh, and I think the fact that Tequila Sunrise is playing right now is an omen or something).

Anyways. Tell me what you think of this chapter.

**Warnings: **Language

**Tequila Sunrise:**

Chapter 2 – Old Habits Die Hard

* * *

"Steven!" Jackie exclaimed, pressing the doorbell and holding it down. "Get back out here!" Releasing the bell, she tried the door handle, finding that he had, predictably, locked it. "Goddamnit!" she exclaimed in frustration, kicking the door. 

"Jackie?" she heard his voice through the door, and gave it a final shove before slouching in defeat. "What the hell do you want?"

She sighed, and smoothed her daughter's hair. "I need somewhere to stay," she responded quietly, noting how the girl's large eyes took in everything around her. "We need somewhere to stay," she corrected herself, warily watching the door for his response. Sensing his hostility, she continued. "Please Steven, we need help."

Even with the wall separating them, she heard him sigh before the click of the lock releasing shattered the still air. Tentatively, Jackie opened the door, grabbed her suitcase, and ushered Sophie in before her.

The house was small, and decently neat. Hyde was standing across the kitchen, staring at them, arms crossed, not moving. Having stomped the snow off her boots, and taken off her jacket, Jackie stepped down the two steps that led from the tiny entrance into the kitchen, helping Sophie, who was gripping her hand tightly, strip off all her outerwear, and down after her.

Scooping up her daughter who was holding on to the teddy bear for dear life, Jackie surveyed the kitchen. There were a few subtle signs of a woman residing there - the small plate of candles resting atop the fridge first clued her in. It was a small room, still decorated in typical seventies style, but clean despite its apparent age.

She took a seat at the kitchen table, knowing she wouldn't be invited to do anything. Sophie sat on her lap, eyes wide as she tried to take in everything around her, including the man who was wearing dirty jeans and a t-shirt, who was now approaching them. He sat down across from the two girls, before standing up immediately as if the chair had burnt him.

"Coffee?" his voice was indifferent.

Jackie cocked her head to one side, surprised that he had asked. "Sure," she replied softly, watching as he made it. Pouring two cups, he handed her one and sat down the same chair he had previously occupied, if only for a second.

She couldn't keep her mind from traveling. _This is how it should be. Us – him and me and our kids, together, drinking coffee and having cereal in the mornings, and dinner in the evenings . . . _

They sat in silence for a moment before he broke it. "Why are you here?"

The tension was thick, and Jackie wrapped her hands around the steaming mug. Her answer came hesitantly, as if she was trying to think of what to say. "Doug," she informed him simply. Hyde merely nodded. He knew who Douglas Mackenzie was, hell; Kelso knew who Douglas Mackenzie was. Jackie's boyfriend – the one who had kept her away from Point Place, away from them. The man who had severed the ties bonding the group tightly together and, in essence, killed a small part of each of them. "We left him," she sighed.

"Does he know? Did you tell him?"

She fixed her gaze on his eyes. "Of course," she began. "Doug may be some things, Steven, but he's not abusive, and he realizes that my life is mine to run. He won't come after us, if that's what you're thinking."

"What about hers?" he gestured to the small girl resting her head on propped up elbows on the table across from him. "She's your daughter, right?"

Jackie nodded.

"Well, doesn't he care about what happens to her?" his voice was harsh and accusing, and the woman knew he couldn't help but begin thinking of his less than mediocre parents. "She _is_ his daughter, isn't she?" Hyde's eyes narrowed and he fixed his unblinking gaze on her face.

Silently, she shook her head. "No," she whispered. "Sophie isn't Doug's." She began to trace invisible patterns on the tabletop. Feeling like a whore, and wanting more than ever to defend herself, she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "She's yours," Jackie blurted out, looking up in surprise when she realized what she had just said.

Keeping her eyes trained on his face, she watched carefully for his reaction, but it never came. He remained as nonchalant as before and as much as she strained to see it, no twitching of the corner of his eye; no tugging at the edge of his mouth; no hollow, shocked look gave away any sort of surprise.

Feeling slightly annoyed at the fact that he hadn't reacted at all to the knowledge that he had a daughter, she repeated herself. "Sophie is _your_ daughter, Steven." Again, she watched carefully to gauge his reaction.

"I heard you the first time," he sharply informed. Sophie could tell they were talking about her, and remained perfectly still during their discussion, but when the conversation lulled for a moment, she began to fidget.

"Why don't I go get your toys and you go play in the living room?" her mother whispered to her, putting her on the floor and moving towards the suitcase that occupied a large part of the tiny entrance way. She could hear Hyde say something, but it didn't register in her mind.

Once the girl was settled, Jackie went back to the table, threading her fingers through the handle of the mug, grasping it tight as if holding on for dear life.

"She's cute," his voice was unexpected, his gracious words even more so, even though his voice was still monotone and unreadable. He nodded towards Sophie rapidly talking while she bounced Barbie's along the carpet. Her curls hung loose down her face and occasionally got tangled up with the doll's limbs.

Jackie smiled slightly at the table. "Yeah, she is," she replied, taking a sip of her coffee, racking her brain to try and think of why he couldn't acknowledge the fact that her daughter was his own flesh and blood. He'd done some pretty strange things, some mean, heartless things, but in her mind, this took the cake.

"You never answered my question."

"What question?" She looked up to see her ex-boyfriend's eyes trained on her.

"Why'd you leave?"

Jackie sighed, and traced the hearts on the mug with her fingernail. Another mark of a woman. "Doug was . . ." she hesitated. _Why isn't he asking about Sophie? _"He was . . . God, Hyde, he was such a loser. Like, he wanted to succeed so badly, but he failed miserably. I mean, at dinner parties, he would have the attention of all the rich upper-class people in Chicago, and then blow it when he forgot the punch line to his German golfer joke."

Hyde's eyes narrowed at her. The woman's head was down, staring fixedly at the dark brown beverage. The sounds of a two year old girl were entering his ears, but he wasn't registering anything. _She never changed! _His mind was screaming at him. _She's the same rich bitch she always was! _He swallowed the disgust rising in his throat. "You left him because he embarrassed you?" he inquired incredulously.

"No!" her own look of disgust matched his. "I'm not that low, Steven," she shot. "I felt myself turning into my mother." Jackie laughed bitterly. "Except at least my father was successful. You know what they say: like mother, like daughter. All those parties we had, all those events we attended, all I cared about was how we looked, how we came across to all the high end people. No, don't interrupt me. And maybe that's why I was so ashamed when he made an ass of himself.

'When I'd go home, I'd see the babysitter sleeping on the couch, my daughter tucked into her bed by someone other than me, and I would think, 'It can't keep going on like this. I can't turn into my mother for her sake, for her future.'" She shrugged softly, stirring the liquid aimlessly, and looked up at her former boyfriend, whose expression had softened. "If the saying is true, then I can't become my mother simply because my daughter can't, either. She deserves more."

He was silent for a moment, absorbing everything she said. Her mind quickly flashed – maybe now he'd say something, anything, about his daughter. His not caring was killing her. "Did you love him?"

Jackie hid her disappointment by laughing hollowly, however it strangely fit into place anyways. "Did I ever?" she corrected him. "No, and he never loved me. I could tell when I left. He didn't care; we were both in it for basically the same thing. I needed someone to rely on, and he needed someone to wear on his arm."

Hyde bit back the urge to ask how they ever got together, how she could've ever let him take over her life, but instead chose to attack the woman across from him. "And why did you come to me?" he persisted with the interrogation. "Why not Donna, Kelso, hell, Fez even?"

"Hyde, Donna and Eric are in Madison. Michael's gone to California – again – and Fez is still in Point Place. Do you see my dilemma? I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to stay here."

"Who said you could stay?" he asked, getting up and taking their now empty cups to the sink. He was playing the defensive side of things again, and she knew it wouldn't take much to wear him down.

"Steven," she breathed, putting her face in her hands. "I've had a long week. I don't want to put up with your hostility."

He shut off the water and turned around to face her, leaning against the sink. "You can't stay here," he stated flatly.

"Damn it," she swore at him, rising up to even the distance between the two. "Why the hell not?"

He rolled his eyes as if trying to keep his temper in check. "Because what am I supposed to say when Heather comes back? Oh, by the way -" he gestured to the candles. "Heather's my girlfriend. 'Hi, how was your trip, how did the meeting go? Oh, and by the way, my ex-girlfriend and her daughter – _my_ daughter -" he added, narrowing his eyes at Jackie. "Are saying with us for a while, I hope that's okay!"

Her eyes pleaded with his. "Tell her that you're helping an old friend. Tell her that I'm only staying for a little while – don't even tell her we were ever together, hell, tell her Sophie is Doug's daughter." She put her hands on his chest gently. "Tell her _something,_ Steven, I don't care. I really need some help right now, and if you say no, I don't know where to go, because I don't feel like paying for a cab to take us back to Wisconsin." She laughed bitterly. "It's not even about whether or not I feel like it. It's about how I can't afford to pay someone to drive us back home."

Hyde sighed heavily, and raked a hand through his unruly hair. "All right," he finally begrudgingly consented, after a few tense moments during which the dark haired woman was sure he'd refuse. "You can stay here for a little while."

"Thank you," she whispered, relieved, wrapping her arms around him in an unrequited hug, before cautiously, uncomfortably, making her way into his living room. He stood in the kitchen for a few more minutes, trying to sort out his thoughts, but eventually went to join the small family.

"Hey, Jackie?" he caught her attention as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the small girl playing on the carpet.

"You know the worst thing about this whole thing is?" he gestured lazily to Sophie. "You couldn't even buck up the courage to tell me." And with that, he walked out of the room and down the hall, not even glancing back to see his ex-girlfriend sitting there with a confused and bewildered look on her face as she watched Steven Hyde walk away from her for the umpteenth time.


	3. The Old Adage

**Disclaimer: **Yeah. If I owned this, I wouldn't be here.

**Notes: **So I'm going to try to let no more than a week pass between updates, if not less. Also, I've decided I'm going to start dating this. If you're wondering, both Chapters 1 and 2 were set January 16, 1983, making Sophie _nearly_ three years old.

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Casper, you made me laugh :) If you want to tell me something, ask me anything, or comment on whatever, don't be afraid to drop me a review:D

**Warning:** Language, probably

**Tequila Sunrise:**

Chapter 3 – The Old Adage

* * *

**Saturday, January 16, 1983 – 1:03PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Steven was gone and Sophie was napping on the couch. Jackie had nothing to do, and she stared blankly at the episode of MASH playing on the TV, the volume turned down so far she had to strain to hear anything. Moving restlessly, she suddenly wished for something to read – a Cosmo, book, hell, even a novel would do.

She made her way down the hall she had seen Hyde walk down earlier that morning, quietly opening doors in her search for Hyde's – sorry, _Steven and Heather's _– bedroom. Respectable women always had _something _to read beside her bed. The room was poorly lit, although that may have been because the Venetian blinds were drawn, giving the room an eerie, bluish light. She stepped soundlessly onto the carpet, noting at once the room's plain qualities.

Two simple nightstands (neither of which, Jackie noted with annoyance, were home to any sort of reading material) stood guard beside a bed lacking a headboard. The dresser was against the wall across from the bed, and Jackie made her way over to the closet situated next to it. Opening it up revealed two very distinct sections – his and hers. The right side was compulsively neat, and Jackie made a face as she flicked through the woman's clothes. Everything was neatly pressed and covered with a plastic bag. And when she reached the section of casual clothing, it was no better. Steven's girlfriend obviously had no taste.

As she searched the shelves anchored to the corner of the closet, she triumphantly realized that one was carrying an assortment of books, however, upon closer inspection, realized they were all self help books – and all on useless stuff, too. Jackie read one, and snorted. Any woman born without confidence didn't deserve to have it.

However, desperate times call for desperate measures, so she closed her eyes, and picked one. Sighing when she read the title (_How to Make, and Keep Your Money!)_, and walked out of the room, settling comfortably on the couch, Sophie's feet just grazing her leg. It should be good for a laugh, anyways.

Surprisingly, though, the book caught and held her interest, and she didn't notice Hyde come in forty five minutes later, and only the sound of him swearing when tripped over her suitcase pulled her out of her trace. Jackie glared at him before looking at her watch and leaning over to stroke Sophie's face, the book held haphazardly in her left hand. "Soph," Hyde could hear her say softly. "Wake up."

Within a few seconds, the young girl's blue eyes fluttered open, and she yawned, pulling herself into a sitting position. "Are you hungry?" her mother asked, setting the book on the arm of the couch. Sophie grasped the teddy bear in her hand tightly, and shook her head, while her eyes remained fixed on Hyde who was still standing near the doorway. Following her daughter's gaze, Jackie looked up to see him watching them. "Steven," she began tentatively. "We need to talk sometime."

"We have nothing to talk about, Jackie," he informed her flatly, going down the hallway to his bedroom again.

**Saturday, January 16, 1983 – 4:42 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

The family of two had played together for most of the afternoon. When Barbies got old, they switched to _The Wizard of Oz_ that was showing on TV. Hyde had hardly left his room all afternoon, and Jackie couldn't help but wonder what he was doing in there. Occasionally she heard the toilet flush, but whenever she went to the bathroom, or stuck her head around the corner, he was no where in sight.

But playing games all afternoon can be strenuous for a young girl, and soon Sophie was complaining that she was hungry, her eyes still glued to Dorothy and the Tin Man. As they danced on screen, Jackie couldn't help but feel a bit of reversed deja-vu. When she was really little, her mother (and even her father joined them sometimes) would watch the same movie together.

At the sound of yet another one of her daughter's whines, Jackie bit her lip. She didn't want to just start preparing some of Hyde's food, but she didn't want to go out, either. Sighing in resignation with the realization that if she ever wanted to get him to talk to her she'd better do nothing to piss him off, she got up and walked down the hall, rapping lightly on his bedroom door. _Better let him know we're going,_ she thought. _So he doesn't worry. _Her mind laughed at her bitterly. _As if! As if! As if! _It chanted at her. "Steven?" she asked the door. "Sophie and I are going out for supper. I just wanted to tell you, and um, we'll see you later."

Still no response. Jackie sighed again, and turned back towards the living room. She was halfway down the hall when his voice rang out, followed by the opening of a door. "Jackie?" It was his turn to sigh. "Just stay here, alright? I'll make something for you; I know you can't really afford to buy dinner."

Biting back her comment about finally being a good host, the woman just nodded and went to join her daughter on the couch, ignoring the pity she heard in his voice.

Though she tried to stay focused on the movie, Jackie found her eyes wandering to the kitchen, where Hyde was mixing something at the stove. It wasn't long before he grunted, "You can eat now," and she and Sophie got up and went to join him at the table. No one said anything as she got some dinner and set Sophie on her lap, providing her with a small fork brought from home. The daughter promptly disregarded the cutlery, however, and began to rapidly eat her noodles one at a time, licking her fingers clean from cheese when she was full.

"I could've made more," Hyde said, not looking up. "But I wasn't sure what she ate, and I figured you guys were hungry."

"Thanks," the raven-haired woman replied, her eyes resting on the top of his head. They flickered to Sophie who was seated in front of the TV again. "Steven, listen," she sighed. "I know you're mad -"

He cut her off before she could finish. "Mad, Jackie?" he asked. "Me? Have you ever seen _me_ angry?" She rolled her eyes, and tried to continue, but he interrupted her again. "You know, I wondered if you were ever going to tell me." Hyde stared disinterested at the pot on the table. "I'm surprised it only took three years."

His ex girlfriend stared at him incredulously. "You knew?" she squeaked. "You _did_ know the whole time?"

Hyde stared speaking again. "Mrs. Forman told me. She seemed to think that it was unfair for a father not to know about his child. Hm," he continued, getting up and clearing the dishes. "I can't image what she meant by that."

Jackie stared at the callous man before her. A man who had known about his daughter, yet never sought to find her. A man who didn't seem to care that the child he had neglected for three years was in his house – in his presence – for the first time in her life.

Getting up, Jackie closed the distance between them. "You were gone," she hissed, her eyes flashing. "You were gone and no one knew where you were. I waited three weeks, Steven, to see if you'd come home. I moved here and started a new life with no boyfriend and no job." She took a deep breath before continuing, silently drying off the dishes he had finished washing. "And then I found out I was pregnant. So I called the only people I knew I could depend on. Donna was shocked, and Mrs. Forman was disappointed and I never even talked to Bob, but I made them promise to tell you when you came back. Hell," she laughed bitterly. "I even left my address in case you wanted to come see me." He watched as she set a plate down onto the counter, and her eyes began to fill with bitter, frustrated tears. "And I was wrong. I waited six months for you, and I never heard anything. Donna told me you came to Chicago, and something inside me said that you were coming to see me. But you never did, and I met Doug, and you know the rest."

With a frustrated sigh, she gave him the pile of dishes to put away. She laughed humourlessly before continuing. "I had convinced myself that they didn't tell you. Or that they lied to me about telling you, because I really believed that had you've known, you would've shown up, or phoned at the very least."

He gave her one last look, the meanest yet. "Yeah, well, you were wrong." Storming out of the kitchen, he gave her one last parting comment, his voice still as harsh as before. "There's a cot and blankets in the closet. Don't expect me home before midnight."

**Sunday, January 17, 1983 – 1:36 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

A thump, a curse, and a giggle all in succession woke Jackie abruptly. Turning over on the small cot, she squinted into the darkness. "Steven?" she whispered sleepily.

The light in the kitchen turned on, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the illumination flooding her pupils. When she finally opened them, it was only to see Hyde tripping down the stairs into the kitchen, a girl in high boots and a miniskirt on his arm. Swearing and rolling her eyes, she pulled herself out of her warm – albeit slightly uncomfortable – makeshift bed, and walked over to them, yawning the whole way.

"Steven." She stopped them before they could get to the hallway. "Who the hell is this?"

He sneered at her. "Who the hell are you?" the floozy hanging on him demanded.

"My sister," he slurred, answering for her. "Go back to sleep, Jackiekins,"

She stared at him in disbelief. That was how he thought a brother would talk to his sister? Apparently all of Eric and Laurie's conversations, if you could call them that, had escaped his inebriated mind. "Steven," she replied sweetly. "You have a girlfriend, remember? Her name is Heather. She loves you?"

He stared at her blankly, and took a moment to reply. "So?" he asked her, leaning heavily on the girl next to him for support.

Rolling her eyes, Jackie decided to speak to the semi-sober one; she hadn't ever seen him this drunk "Listen lady," she began. "He doesn't want you here, trust me. You better leave."

"Hey!" the skank protested, running her nails along Hyde's bicep. "I came for a good time!"

Reaching around Hyde, Jackie pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out ten dollars. She pushed the woman towards the door, who, upon seeing the money, seemed relatively compliant. Hyde was slumped against the wall as the two women walked away. After his "date" had taken her jacket, Jackie herded her outside and handed her the money.

"Use this to get that VD checked out," she advised, calling after the woman walking down the driveway, probably already scoping out her next companion.

Locking the door, Jackie turned around to see Hyde half lying on the floor, half sitting against the wall, and as much as she wanted to leave him there, the soft spot she had for him kicked in. "Oh Steven," she murmured, pulling him up as he tried to regain his footing. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

Pulling him into his bedroom, she laid him down on the bed, before heading back to the living room to try and get some sleep herself. Switching off the light as she passed, she was almost asleep when she heard a small voice from behind her.

"Mummy?" the innocent voice of her daughter pulled her out of her near sleeping state.

"What, Soph?"

"When are we going to see Daddy again?"

Jackie squeezed her eyes shut, and willed herself not to cry. "I'm not sure, Sophie. We'll talk in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," her daughter replied with a yawn, and Jackie could hear the rustle of blankets as she turned around and fell back asleep, but she couldn't help but realize the irony in the statement. Here she was, with her real father, the man who had conceived her, and she was wondering about his stand-in. _The old adage must be true,_ Jackie thought sleepily as her eyes softly closed. _A child's father is the man who raises them._


	4. So Out of Place

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, yadda, yadda, yadda

**Notes:** So wow, yeah, this is kind of all over the place. It's a bit of a filler, just providing information, and it's my least favourite so far, just to warn you. Sorry about the late chapter, I'm going to try to get back on schedule, either by Wednesday or the one following it. Anyways, this is the longest chapter yet, so maybe that makes up for it?

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. Don't be shy – I don't bite ;)

**Warning: **Minor language

**Tequila Sunrise:**

Chapter 4 – So Out of Place

* * *

**Tuesday, June 21, 1980 – 2:06 PM**  
_Point Place, Wisconsin_

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

"Kelso, would you cut it out!" The male in question stopped bouncing his basketball against the backboard of the hoop and instead started to dribble it instead on the smooth concrete.

"Got a problem, Big D?" he asked, shooting her a cocky grin before giving a bounce pass to their foreign friend who took a shot.

The redhead watched him barely miss the hoop before responding. "Yes!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and leaning against the Vista Cruiser. "You can barely stand up without falling over, but you can continuously bounce a ball off of a three foot target?"

"It's okay to be jealous of me, Donna," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner. "I'm a star basketball player, wanted by all the girls, and incredibly good looking. I'd be worried if you weren't jealous!"

"Oh please, Kelso," Fez scoffed, coming up on the other side of Donna. "You may be man pretty, but until you can grow a chest like hers, she's got nothing to be jealous of."

She gave the short foreigner a weird look, and he shrugged. "Okay, both of you pervs get away from me," she commanded, pushing them away as Kelso's hand began to sneak lower down past her shoulder. Picking up the ball, she took a shot.

"She's just nervous because Forman's coming home," Fez was told in an over exaggerated whisper.

The redhead threw the ball at him, hard. "Get bent, Kelso." She went back and leaned against the car again. "God, where are they?" The three were waiting for one Jackie Burkhart, her boyfriend, and new baby. "They're already a half hour late."

"Relax, Donna," her taller friend reassured. "I'm sure she's just trying to prepare herself for seeing me again. I'm pretty irresistible."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Kelso," she said flatly. "Jackie had another man's baby. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want you."

"That's impossible, Donna!" he exclaimed. "Every girl wants me! Actually," he added as an afterthought. "I'm sure there are a few guys out there who do too."

"Oh Kelso," Fez began in an irritated voice. "You go on and on about-" he trailed off as a black Pontiac pulled into the Forman's driveway. Before it even stopped moving, the passenger side door was thrown open, and a dark haired girl came rushing out.

"I'm home!" she squealed, and threw her arms around her ex-boyfriend.

"It's a good thing you hugged me Jackie," he said as she released him and greeted her two other friends in a similar manner. "Because I would've looked like a fool, standing here with my arms out and all."

"Uh, Jackie?" the four turned and looked at the young man standing by the car.

She smiled at him, and made her way over to his six foot two frame. The three friends couldn't help but gape at their difference in height, even when she was wearing heels. "This is Douglas Harold Mackenzie," she informed them, taking one of his hands in hers and resting her other one on his chest.

He stood there awkwardly, looking at the three of the people his girlfriend had talked so much about. "Hi," he said with a slight wave.

She introduced him to them, before frowning at the suitcases in the driveway. "Donna, where do you want me to put these?"

Her friend walked over to the trunks and began to circle them. "Three bags, Jackie, I'm impressed," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, well Doug said if I took any more than three, he'd shave my head in my sleep. Isn't that right, baby?"

"Yep." He leaned down to kiss her.

Kelso walked over to Doug and tapped the guy on the shoulder. "Hey buddy, I'm not sure if you know how things work around here, but I'm the only one who gets any Jackie-lovin'."

"Michael, shut up!" the girl exclaimed, hiding a smile. "Ignore him," she told her boyfriend.

"Hey," Donna frowned, and looked in the back window of the car. "Aren't you guys forgetting something? Like, oh, I don't know, a kid?!"

"We left her at my parent's place," the tall man said. "She hasn't seen them in a while, and we figured since we were going to be here a while that it would be better for her to stay with them."

The redhead looked disappointed. "I wanted to see her," she said, a bit sadly. "But c'mon Jackie, we'll take your stuff over now."

"Please, Donna. Do you expect me to carry that?"

"You packed it!"

"Donna, I know you're not used to – Fez!" she exclaimed as the foreigner inched closer to one of her suitcases. "Get away from my bag!"

"Jackie," her friend handed her a brown suitcase, and spoke sharply. "My dad wants to see you."

Doug pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Wouldn't it be easier if I just drove you girls over?" he asked, moving towards the driver's side door.

"Don't worry about it," Donna reassured him. "It's just a short walk, and I want to catch up with Jackie."

"Oh, alright then," he replied, looking confused and a bit hurt.

"It's okay, Dougy, we'll be right back." Jackie inched closer to him, and stood on tiptoe to get as close to his ear as possible. "Fez and Michael aren't that scary," she assured him. "Just play a little basketball." She kissed his cheek before leaving him in unknown territory.

Grabbing the two lightest bags, the two women began to walk down the driveway. Doug looked panicked. "Jackie!" he called after her. "I don't know how to play basketball!"

"Learn!" she yelled back.

* * *

"Jackie, what the hell are you doing with him?" Donna hissed as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a complete dork! He looked like he was about to cry when you left, he doesn't know how to play basketball, and he's wearing a dress shirt and pants! I mean, I never thought I'd say this, but he's dorkier than Eric!"

Jackie sighed and tried not to let her bag of dresses drag on the sidewalk. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed. "He's nice, Donna, he really is," she insisted, ignoring her friend's claims. "Besides, he's got money, a home, and he can provide for Sophie."

The other woman opened the door to her house. "That's low, even for you," she said harshly. "Playing with his emotions is just cruel. Besides, you two aren't even married! Why's he paying for your child?"

"Lookit, from the day Sophie was born, he's been her father, and he loves her like she's his. Donna," she sighed, not wanting to get into her and Doug's complicated relationship. "I do love him, I do. And he loves me. And even though we both want different things from this relationship, it's working out. I don't need relationship advice from Ms. My-fiancé-jilted-me-at-the-altar, thank you very much."

The redhead rolled her eyes, and ignored the jab. She opened her bedroom door to reveal that nothing had changed since her friend had last seen it. "Hey, uh, where's Doug sleeping? He can stay here, right?" Jackie asked, sitting down on the cot that had been moved in for the occasion.

"The couch in the living room."

"Oh." Jackie opened one of her suitcases, and pulled out a ratty old toy. Holding it to her, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to soak up the comfort it had once offered.

"You still have that thing?" her friend's amused voice interrupted her concentration, and she opened her eyes to see her sitting cross-legged on the bed across from her.

Glaring, she responded in the affirmative. Still feeling some need to justify the relationship between her and her boyfriend, she added, "He makes me happy, Donna."

Donna sighed, and forced herself not to comment anymore. She hadn't seen her friend in nearly a year, and didn't want to start a fight right after she came home. "It's your life," she said, getting up and going to the door. "I'm gonna go back now, but you can stay here if you want to sleep or something."

Jackie held the unicorn tighter to herself, and inhaled deeply. "Maybe I will. Hey, didn't you say your dad wanted to see me?"

"Oh, I just said that to get you to come. I'm sure he does want to see you," she added hastily. "But he's uh, busy right now." She laughed, and waved off her friend's inquisitive look. "I'll tell you later." Donna opened the door to let herself out, then stopped. "Oh, Jackie?" her friend barely responded, but she continued anyway. "Hyde was out late last night, and he's sleeping in his room now. He, uh, might even be passed out. So you don't have to worry about him for now."

Quietly easing herself out of the room, she was unsure if her friend had even heard her. But then a small "Thanks for telling me, Donna," came from inside the room, and with a bitter smile, she left her house.

* * *

**Tuesday, June 21, 1980 – 2:22 PM**  
_Point Place, Wisconsin_

Doug frowned as he carefully made his way through the crowded basement. He wasn't comfortable here, with his girlfriend's friends. They all seemed very loud and aggressive, and so familiar with one another that his being an outsider was painfully apparent. Pushing open a small door, he kept his eyes on the floor as he made his way across the room to the back, where he had been told the bathroom was.

A sudden grunt and rustling of blankets made him jump and turn around, only to find an unkempt man lying on an old army cot. "I'm terribly sorry, sir!" he apologized hastily, rushing into the washroom without waiting for the sleeping man's response.

Once he had washed his hands, Doug pulled the door open again, planning to just sneak out of the room before the man could catch him. He jumped back in surprise when he saw that the man was sitting up and staring at him, and even more so when he began to speak.

"Who the hell are you?"

He began to fidget. This one seemed mean. "Douglas Mackenzie, I'm here with my girlfriend. I'm just here to use the washroom!"

The nameless man sighed. "Why didn't you use the one upstairs?"

He frowned. "That Michael kid said some guy named Bob had the runs or something. . .?"

Doug stared at the man, his gaze concentrated. The smirk response didn't get past him, either. He was sure this was one of the people Jackie always talked to him about . . . either an Eric or a Steven. And the absence of Star Wars memorabilia told him it was definitely not Eric.

That left a Steven. Steven . . . He furrowed his brow in concentration, ignoring the slightly bewildered "Are you alright, man?" that came from the man who now had a name.

"Who're you?" he finally found his voice.

Apparently sensing that the stranger was harmless, Hyde replied with a clipped version of his name.

"Hyde?" _Hyde._ Sophie's father. Sophie's _biological_ father. Feeling a surge of protectiveness for both his girlfriend and her daughter, he decided to set things straight.

He was about to speak after taking a seat on the chair across from the cot when he was interrupted. "Look, I don't really care who you are, but get out of my room."

Doug smirked slightly. It wasn't like him to do something like this, and he could feel the adrenaline rush. "Oh, you care," he said. "Look, _Steven,_ I imagine you know of a young girl named Sophie?"

Without batting an eyelash, Hyde nodded, though his insides were churning. He'd never met her, but he'd heard about her. Heard about her before she was born, heard about her after. He hadn't gone after her mother, and he didn't know why. Fear, probably. He was afraid that they would be poor and unhappy, and that Jackie would hate him. He was afraid that Sophie would look up to him, just a kid himself, and get screwed over.

Doug had no idea if his plan was going to work, if it would even make a dent in this man's life, but he had to try. He loved Jackie and Sophie, and if this man came after them, they'd have nothing. They'd be poor and starving in a small rundown house in the middle of no where. Sophie wouldn't get to have ballet lessons or enroll in gymnastics like Jackie was planning. They would be unhappy.

Before saying anything, he pushed down the thought that he was also concerned with his own unhappiness. Even though it had been nearly a year, if this Hyde went after her, Jackie would take him back, Doug knew that without a doubt. It may take a while, but eventually he would be out of the picture, alone, and desperate.

"Jackie doesn't want you in her life, Hyde. She doesn't want you near Sophie, says that you're a no good burnout who will only influence her to do drugs, drink, swear, and listen to bad music."

Hyde felt a stab of pain in his stomach, but ignored it. "You're lying," he said flatly, keeping his gaze steadily fixed on Doug, who got up and moved towards the door.

"If that's what you need to believe," he patronized. "Oh, but my name, not yours, is on her birth certificate. Think about that."

Hyde waited until he heard the outside door shut, then got up to change out of the sweats he had hastily put on. She wouldn't have done that. She _couldn't_ have done that. Everyone knew he was Sophie's father, and she had _told _him. If she didn't want him around, she just would've kept it a secret, right?

He picked up a picture of a little girl in a crib, smiling up at the camera. Jackie had sent a bunch of snapshots to Mrs. Forman, and he had taken this one before she had a chance to look at them all. She was adorable, with dark curls and light eyes, and he wondered how he loved someone he'd never met.

Hyde sat down on his cot, and ran a finger along the side of her face, and an issue that had been plaguing his mind recently once again occupied his thoughts.

WB knew a guy who was looking to fill a spot in a new large scale shop he had opened in San Antonio. He said that his friend already had one guy considering the job, but if he didn't take it, they needed someone else to fill it. "Look, Steven," he had said. "I don't want to tell you all this when it's still so uncertain. But if Jim chooses not to take it, they'll need to fly someone down there on short notice, and I can put in a good word with Marty if you want. You seem angrier than usual, and I think a change of scenery will do you good."

With a sigh, Hyde set the picture down on his end table. He had told WB yesterday that if Jim was unable to take the job, he would. It was best just not to get involved in his daughter's life, because if what Doug said was true, he wasn't wanted. Besides, it would only hurt Sophie more when he wasn't there any longer than if she never met him at all.

He should know.

* * *

**Sunday, January 17, 1983 – 11:56 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"No, Doug, she was asking about you last night!" Hyde could hear Jackie's voice from his bedroom, and groaning, he stumbled into the bathroom for some Tylenol. The cool tiles were a welcome feeling on his warm body, and he splashed cold water on his face before swallowing a few painkillers.

When he walked into the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to see that she was still fighting with her husband, phone tucked between her neck and shoulders, her hands playing with something on the table. "That doesn't matter!" she exclaimed, stilling her hands for a moment. "She just wants to see you!"

Since her back was to him, Hyde snuck undetected into the living room where Sophie was playing with plastic horses. Glancing between the young girl and her angry mother, he chose the lesser of the two evils, and forcing himself not to turn on the TV, instead sat down near the girl.

"Hi," she greeted, looking up at him as he sat down awkwardly on the carpet. Definitely not a shy kid.

"Hi," he responded, looking at the colourful horses. "What're you doing?" it felt so strange, talking to this little girl. Like he was going to do something wrong, and hurt her.

"Playing horsies. Here, you can be Bella," she instructed, pushing the purple one into his hands.

He looked down at the toy, and suddenly felt very, very uncomfortable. Putting it on the ground, he tried to imitate some of the bounces he had seen her and Jackie use to make the Barbies walk. "Neigh . . ." his horse's cry was less than mediocre, trailing off in uncertainty near the end.

"No, you're doing it wrong!" As Sophie told him all about the complex story she had constructed with the 'horsies' (definitely her mother's daughter), he couldn't help but listen to Jackie's conversation instead.

"Whatever Doug, I'll talk to you later okay? . . . No, you have to call me on Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm staying with a friend . . . Don't even start . . . Okay. Bye."

He felt someone tap his ankle, and looked down to see Sophie looking expectantly up at him. "It's Bella's turn," she said quietly.

"Oh," he said dumbly, repeating his previous actions. "Neigh . . ."

* * *

Doug was being an ass. "She was asking about you last night!" Jackie insisted, trying to will him to understand.

"Jackie," he said sadly. "I can't. I have a bunch of meetings to go to in Maine. If she wants to see me before I leave, it won't be more than half an hour!"

"That doesn't matter," she replied. "She just wants to see you." In the years that they were together, Doug had gotten more and more career centric, and she knew she was going to have a hard time getting him to set aside an afternoon to spend with Sophie.

"I don't even know if I can get that. Look, we'll talk when I get back, okay?"

"When do you leave?"

"Tuesday. I get back the Friday after."

Frustration was taking over her emotions. "No, Doug. If you can't possibly set aside any sort of time for your daughter, you can at least call me when you get to Maine."

"She's not my daughter, Jackie." His voice was low.

The woman rolled her eyes. "She may as well be."

"Jackie, Mark's waiting outside, I have to go."

"Whatever, Doug, I'll talk to you later okay?"

His tone was rushed, and she could picture him fidgeting in their – _his_ – kitchen. "Call me next Friday?"

"No you have to call me on Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm staying with a friend."

"I don't know if I can call you from Maine -" He was getting more anxious, she could tell, and she cut him off.

"Don't even start."

"Alright. I'm going now, I'll call you later."

"Okay. Bye."

Jackie hung up the phone and rested her head in her hands. He was being so difficult. She knew he wanted to see Sophie, too, but he didn't want to see her at an inconvenience to himself. With a sigh, she left the table and went to see what her daughter was doing, and was surprised to see Hyde sitting on the floor, playing with My Little Ponies.

Not bothering to hide her smile, she leaned against the door frame and watched as Sophie directed the moves of Bella and he tried to be a good horse. Sophie looked up to see her standing there. "Mummy!" she exclaimed, bouncing slightly. "Come play horsies with us!"

Hyde turned around to see his ex-girlfriend watching them with a smile, and kept his eyes on her the whole time she was moving between the door and her new spot on the carpet. "You tell anyone I did this," he hissed. "And I'll cut off Fluffycake's head."

She gasped, and took the pink pony her daughter was pushing into her hands. "How do you know I still have Fluffycakes?"

He scoffed. "This is you, Jackie. Of course you still have that damn unicorn." She glared at him, and he muttered a sheepish, "Sorry."

_You're a no good burnout who will only influence her to do drugs, drink, swear, and listen to bad music._ Doug's words flashed through his mind, a confrontation he hadn't thought about in years.

"Hey, uh, thanks for last night," he said quietly to Jackie while they watched Sophie carry on a conversation between four ponies.

"No problem," she responded just as softly, surprised he had brought it up at all.

While the two watched their daughter play with her toys, occasionally roping one of them into the scene, Hyde wondered what he was thinking three years ago, why he had given this up. She was so small and vulnerable, and even after spending only a half hour with her, he could see both marks of himself and marks of Jackie in her.

He knew he made a huge mistake leaving them like he did. Guilt and regret consumed him as he thought of all the things he missed. Her first word, first step, first and second birthdays. First Christmas, everything. He missed everything. "I'm sorry." He apologized so softly Jackie barely heard it. "I should've been there."

Jackie's tone was harsh. "Yeah, you should've. And when she's older, you should apologize to her, too." She sighed. "I'm not mad at you anymore. I think I've always known that you did know about her, but chose to give you the benefit of the doubt. I've had three years to be mad, I'm just disappointed. I thought that you, of all people, would appreciate what it's like to be missing one of your parents."

And before he could say anything, her white pony and Sophie's blue one were having an animated discussion about rainbows and magic spells. All he could do was sit there and try to ignore the guilt coursing through him.


	5. The Hardest Thing

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, yadda, yadda, yadda

**Notes: **So yeah, this took a freaking long time, didn't it? I think I'm going to have to move my update days to Sundays, so I can have the whole weekend to work on the new chapter (it's not like I was following the other schedule, anyways). And yeah. This is a VERY Sophie/Hyde centric chapter, and it gets a little fluffy, which is sometimes nice :P But I'm off to read chapter 13 of November Rain (it was my reward for finishing this chapter), by the lovely luvcali.

As always, thanks baskets of candy canes to everyone who reviewed – you guys made my day. Feel free to give me your thoughts.

Oh, and as a point of interest, this is the longest chapter I've ever written in my freaking life so enjoy it :P

**Warnings: **Minor language

* * *

**Tequila Sunrise**  
Chapter 5 – The Hardest Thing

* * *

**Sunday, January 17, 1983 – 11:30 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"I miss you," Heather's voice came clearly across the phone, her tone slightly deflated.

Steven Hyde was sitting on his bed, the phone cradled between his head and shoulder, yearning for his girlfriend. "I miss you too." A pause. "When are you coming home?"

"Tuesday, which means only one more long-ass meeting to try and stay awake through." He heard her sigh faintly, and frowned.

"I thought you loved them?"

"A week of them will drive the love out of anyone, Steven," she said with a slight giggle. "It's good, though, I guess. I mean, I think I'll have the best chance of promotion when I get back to Chicago." Even though her tone was hopeful, he knew that at the moment, she'd rather be anywhere but there. He was proud of her for going out for what she believed in; for working for it, especially in her father's business. At first glance, everyone thought that she got what she wanted because it her dad was the boss, but he had never treated her any differently than any of his employees, and she never expected him to.

He glanced quickly at his watch. "It's been half an hour," he remarked. "I've never talked on the phone for half an hour."

Heather giggled again, and he was glad to her laughter instead of the sighs that had been haunting the first thirty minutes of their phone call. "I've never been away this long," she teased. "Anyways, enough about me. What's going on with you?"

Nothing was new, but he wanted to keep talking to her. The longest they had been apart had been three days, and though he was wary of being so dependent on her, he was willing to take what he had at that moment. "I've got some friends over," he blurted out suddenly, immediately wishing he could take it back.

"Eric and Donna?" she asked mildly. The three had met at Kelso's a few months back, after they had made a stop in Chicago to visit with their old friends.

He paused, choosing his words carefully, deciding it was best to tell her about Jackie and Sophie in person. Telling your girlfriend you had a daughter from a previous relationship that you knew, but never did anything about wasn't something you shared over the phone. "Actually, you don't know them. They're from way back."

She accepted his lie without question. "How long are they staying?" Again, a pause. "Steven?"

He swallowed hard. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" her voice was becoming harder. "You better find out! I was looking forward to some time with you when I got back. You know," her tone was softer now. "Just me and you."

He groaned slightly. "I'll find out," he promised. "What time does you flight get in at?"

"One ten, your time. Shit," he could hear her becoming frenzied. "I need to get to sleep. The meeting's at seven tomorrow."

"Seven?" he asked in disbelief. "Heather, that's insane!"

"That's business," she replied grimly. "I love you, Steven. 'Night."

"Me too," he responded quietly, so softly he wasn't sure she heard. He cleared his throat. "Goodnight, Heather."

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 8:24 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"What the hell?" Hyde stumbled down the hallway and into the kitchen way too early for his tastes, only to find his ex-girlfriend standing at the sink making an unnecessary amount of noise. Passing the living room, where a sleeping Sophie laid, he approached the kitchen table. "Jackie, what are you doing?"

She spun around to see him take a seat at the table and rub his eyes tiredly. "Nothing. Just rinsing out my cup." She held a wet mug up with an innocent smile and turned back to the sink.

"What the hell was that bang, then?" She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off. "Never mind, I don't want to know. What are you doing up so early anyway?"

She leaned against the counter as she dried the cup. "Looking for a job. Speaking of, shouldn't you be going to one?"

Hyde shook his head and got up to get some coffee as she stared accusingly at him. "Monday's my day off!" he replied defensively.

"Really?" she asked, curling her legs under her as she sat down. "Where do you work?"

He grasped the cup tightly before taking a seat across from her. "A store called The Head."

Jackie cocked her head to the side. "The Head?" she questioned.

"Yeah," he smirked. "It just came to me, man. It's pretty much a more modern version of Grooves."

"What ever happened to Grooves?" Jackie couldn't help but wonder about the place she hadn't thought of in years. She always associated the store with good times, even though there had been a fair share of bad to take place there.

"WB sold it," he replied nonchalantly, though he felt a little pang of reminiscence at the mention of the old store. "Angie didn't want to manage it anymore – she found bigger and better things – and I moved out here."

"So do you, uh, run it?"

"Yeah."

"That's cool."

He tried not to let himself show, in any way, that he was surprised she would still say that – hadn't heard her talk like that in years, even when they were together, the lessons he had taught her never really came into play. But the slight spark in her eye, and the obvious resistance of a smirk made him realize that she knew exactly what she was doing.

They sat in silence, him sipping his coffee, and her thumbing through some papers that appeared to be her resume before the sound of a car horn interrupted them.

"Shit!" Jackie glanced at her watch. "They're early!"

"What?" he asked, glancing at the woman who was now dashing frantically around his house, before disappearing into the living room for a few minutes and towing a drowsy looking Sophie behind her.

As the horn got more frequent, she got more frazzled. Realizing that the time she had before the cab left was insufficient to dress Sophie and organize her papers, Jackie began to speed up. Hyde watched her fly around, and was surprised to see her come to a complete stop. "Steven!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Can you watch Sophie today? I was going to take her to the babysitter's, but it would be so much easier if you could just stay with her."

He stared suspiciously at the woman in front of him. "If this is about the cab Jackie, just get another one."

"I can't!" she wailed, haphazardly shoving her papers into a bag. "They fine you!" He rolled his eyes.

"Jackie, I have to go grocery shopping."

If she hadn't been in such a panic, she would've taken the time to fully appreciate the humour in the situation. The thought of Steven Hyde, of all people, doing such a domestic chore was incredibly ludicrous, and Jackie shook her head for a minute, momentarily wondering if she was in the twilight zone. "Please?" she begged, never slowing down as she poured some juice into a cup for Sophie. "Just drive her to the babysitter's at least?"

_Shit._ The feeling of obligation and knowing he had to make the first three years up to them was back. "I'll watch her," he replied begrudgingly. "Y'know, so you don't have to waste money on someone who's only required to be there by law and probably spends the whole day watching 'Wheel of Fortune' anyways."

"Thank you SO much," she said, throwing on her jacket and giving Sophie a hug and kiss. "Soph, Steven is going to stay with you today, okay?" To her dismay, Sophie's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head vehemently, and Jackie frowned. The cab driver blew his horn again, longer than before, and the brunette stuck her head outside and yelled for one more minute. "Would you rather stay with Lynn?" she asked her daughter, brushing away the tears that had fallen.

Another head shake. "I want to come with you!"

The silent observer saw Jackie's eyes fall, and watched as she hugged her daughter tightly. "You can't, sweetie. I'll be home before you know it, and you'll have fun with Steven. Believe me." Pressing a kiss to her temple, she gave her one last squeeze before hurrying out the door. "I love you," she called, sticking her head back inside one last time.

Even a few moments after the door closed, Sophie stood in complete silence before beginning to cry bloody murder.

Hyde sat straight up as the noise penetrated the silent air. _Holy shit, she's loud._ He knew he had to do something, but any sort of logical thought had completely flew out of his mind. What had he gotten himself into? He couldn't comfort women his own age, never mind three year old girls! "Sophie," he said tentatively, hoping she'd turn around. She didn't. "Sophie!" he tried again, trying to imitate a commanding tone he had heard Jackie use with her. She didn't move, and didn't get any quieter. Figures. Jackie was always better being bossy than he was anyways.

He felt more accomplished when he saw her turn around, only to frown when she dashed into the living room, yelling the whole way. Very slowly, he moved in his chair so he was facing her, only to see her picking up her toys and throwing them back onto the ground.

Yep. Definitely his kid.

Hyde realized he had to do something before she broke something, so before he could think about it, he was crossing the room and picking her up. He frowned as she kicked him and her flailing arms hit him in the head, but kept a grip on her. An awkward grip, but a grip nonetheless. Backing up so he was just above the couch, he sat down, remembering to pull her legs out from under her at the last minute.

He sat there stiffly as she continued to throw a fit, keeping her in his lap and his hands around her waist until she began to calm down. As quickly as it had started, it was over, and she slumped forward, exhausted from her outburst, and completely unaware that she was being held by a man who was almost a complete stranger.

Hyde was feeling very uncomfortable when the fit ended, and remained that way even as she relaxed against him. He became very distraught when he realized she was _still_ crying, and racked his brain for ways to make her stop. "Hey, don't cry," he said softly, moving her to one knee and stroking her hair. She looked at him, and he could see the surprise in her eyes, as if she hadn't realized who was behind her. He took it as a good sign when she didn't scramble to get away from him, and her sobs quieted down. "There," he said in an attempt to fill the silence, and unsurely began to bounce her on his knee.

"She'll be back, Soph, don't worry," he said cautiously, panicking for a moment wondering if his words would remind her of why she was upset in the first place. Her tears began to slow down, and Hyde unsurely moved his hand to rub her back, trying to calm her down more. He suddenly remembered the cup of juice Jackie had been pouring before she left. "Do you want some juice?"

His daughter nodded slightly, and he awkwardly picked her up and carried her into the kitchen, setting her on a chair before reaching for the lidded cup.

Hyde handed it to her and sat on the chair next to hers. She didn't take her eyes off of him, even as she drank, and he gazed at her somewhat warily. Suppose she fell off the chair and cracked her head open? She wasn't that big at all; she probably didn't have enough muscle to support herself properly.

Sophie's gaze remained steady as he inched his chair closer to hers and rested his hand on her arm. There. At least he'd catch her if she lost her balance. His head fell slightly, as did his gaze when he suddenly remembered he had to take her with him to the supermarket.

_I'll just go tomorrow,_ he thought quickly, feeling the brief shine of relief before he remembered that if there wasn't a full fridge when Heather came home, she was going to be pissed; he'd learned _that_ the hard way. And he didn't know when Jackie would be coming back, so he couldn't just put it off until later.

_Shit,_ was all that ran through his mind, especially when he noticed that Sophie (who had put the cup on the table and was staring unsurely at him) was still wearing her pajamas. _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 9:04 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Sophie, sit _still,_" Hyde grunted, attempting to pull the little shirt over her head. She was always trying to move around, some toys Hyde found in her suitcase scattered around her.

_There._ He had managed to get her head through. That was an accomplishment after ten minutes and one arm through the head-hole incident. Frustrated, he sat down and put her between his legs, his left bent and resting just above hers, restricting movement. "Here," he said, trying to awkwardly manipulate her left arm into the small sleeve. "Why do they make these things so damn tiny?" he muttered to himself.

"You said a bad word." The first words she had spoken to him all day, a slightly strange occurrence considering how friendly she had been around him yesterday.

Hyde grunted, and tried a different approach. He stuck a few fingers into the small sleeve and tried to guide her arm with his other hand. "I say a lot of bad words," he said finally after successfully pulling her arm through the sleeve.

She regarded him silently as he moved around her, and sat in the same position, using the same tactic to get her arm through the other sleeve. Glancing doubtfully at the pair of Sophie's pants he had grabbed from Jackie's suitcase, he decided it wasn't worth it, and reached for the socks.

Getting them on was slightly easier than the shirt; by then, Sophie had stopped moving around so much.

"There," Hyde finally grinned triumphantly. "All done."

He glanced around the living room, eyes lingering on the suitcase with the clothes scattered around it. He had been digging through the suitcase in his search for his daughter's clothes, and apparently, had made quite a mess. With a sigh, he picked up all the discarded clothing and shoved it back in the bag, smirking slightly when his eyes fell on a silky white bra.

A noise came from behind him, and he looked to see Sophie rolling a toy car towards a plastic horse. "Vroom," she sounded, speeding up the car so it knocked over the pony. "Vroom vroom."

Hyde grinned as he watched her play. "Hey Sophie," he caught her attention and offered her breakfast.

She looked at him skeptically. "I don't have any pants!" she protested.

With a quick hand motion, Hyde gestured to her pajama pants. "Yes you do."

"No, I don't!" He groaned – didn't she _ever_ give up?

Racking his mind for ways to distract her, he finally settled upon his original idea, and the thing that provided the best distraction for him (besides sex, of course). "C'mon. I'll make you -" his voice trailed off in uncertainty as he wondered what he _would_ make her. What he _could_ make her, considering his impressive lack of options. What did Jackie like; what would Jackie have given her for breakfast? "Eggs," he stated finally, thanking a God he didn't quite believe in when her eyes brightened and she stood up.

"Okay!"

Hyde followed her into the kitchen, praying that he actually had some eggs to make breakfast with.

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 10:13 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Hyde stood in the middle of the cereal aisle, two different boxes in his hand. He stared doubtfully at one and then focused his eyes on the second, an even more confused look on his face.

Why the _hell_ didn't she give him a list?

With a shrug, he turned to the girl in the cart. "Which do you think?" he asked.

She immediately pointed to the predominantly pink box, and after a quick look at the nutritional information, he nodded and threw it into the cart. "Less fat," he told his daughter knowledgeably. "Heather will like it better."

Their shopping excursion was almost over, with many experiences like the one they just had. Heather usually did the shopping for the two of them, and when she left it to him, he was more lost than not.

He glanced warily down to the vegetable section, wrinkling his nose and turning the cart away from it, heading towards the checkouts. At the last minute, he redirected himself and headed towards it anyways, so Heather could at least have some apples when she got home. He heard a voice in the back of his head that sounded strangely like Forman repeating, "Whipped" over and over.

With a grunt, he hoisted the bag into the cart and moved towards the check stands for the second time that day. As the cashier ran everything through, he stared in distaste at the magazines littering the racks. Didn't people have anything _better_ to do with their time than read about celebrities and their meaningless lives? Hollywood was all a scam, anyways.

Still disgusted, he grabbed a chocolate bar and threw it onto the conveyer belt.

"Will that be all for you today?" the girl's voice was monotone, and it was obvious that she was bored. _Can't say I blame her,_ Hyde thought. Repeating the same things all day would get tiring.

"Yeah. Here." He handed her the amount in cash – his girlfriend was always very strict on her "no credit card" rule, and he didn't have the heart to ignore it. It was a small thing that made her happy, and _really_, he thought, _there's nothing wrong with avoiding credit card debt._

"Let's go, Sophie," he said as the young girl gave him his change. He winced slightly when the cold air hit his skin, and wheeled her over to the small Toyota Heather always used for grocery shopping, and couldn't help the feeling of embarrassment that engulfed him as he approached it. He _hated _this thing. With a quick glance around to make sure no one he knew was around, he unlocked and opened the back door so Sophie could climb in. After unloading the groceries, he strapped her into the car seat that Doug had sent over to his place, along with a few boxes full of their stuff.

He climbed into the driver's seat, and started the car. The trip home was almost completely quiet as neither of them felt the need to talk, except for one time when Sophie pointed at an outdoor skating rink.

"Can we go there?" she asked excitedly, watching the people glide by, her small hands pressed up to the cold window.

Hyde glanced in his rearview mirror. "You'd better talk to your mom," he informed her, hastily adding, "I'm sure she'll be back when we get to my house. You can ask her then!" when Sophie's face began to fall.

When they got back to his house, Hyde first went to unlock the door before going into the back of Heather's car and unfastening the car seat. "Go inside," he directed Sophie. "But it's slippery, so be careful."

As she cautiously walked back to the house, pausing occasionally to stray off the driveway and into the fluffy snow, he opened the back hatch and began to pull bags out. A sharp cry froze him in his tracks, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Sophie crumpled on the ground.

_Fuck._ He roughly shoved the groceries into the back of the car, slammed the door shut, and walked towards his daughter who was lying on her side. He knelt slowly down on the ice and rested his thumb on her cheek, his fingers lightly grazing the back of her neck. "Soph, you okay?" his voice was full of concern, even he could hear it, and it was to his dismay that she began to cry harder.

He glanced around nervously, and slid one of his hands under her, trying to ignore the ice on his skin. Hyde hoisted her up and carried her into the house, setting her on the counter. Taking off her hat, jacket, and mittens, he checked for anything that looked weirdly out of place, and found nothing, not even a scratch or bruise.

"Hey," he said softly, brushing away her tears. "Where does it hurt?"

She pointed to her legs. "My knees," she sniffed, then held her hands out in front of her for him to see. "And my hands."

Frowning, he tried to think of something that would cheer her up. He didn't have any band-aids in the house – he hated them, and Heather never used them – so that was out. Somewhat tentatively, he picked Sophie up using one of his arms to support her bum and the other to balance her. When she didn't protest, he started rubbing small circles on her back before sitting down in a kitchen chair.

He was taken by surprise at how natural it felt, once the initial awkwardness was out of the way, and how, even though he felt slightly embarrassed, it wasn't nearly enough to make him stop. Because the need to make her feel better, to stop her crying was all consuming; he'd loved her since she had been born, and in the two and a half days her and Jackie had been staying with him, she never ceased to amaze him.

This warm weight against him, this girl currently in his care – it felt right.

He rocked back and forth, and her sobs began to subside, but the tears were still falling. For the first time since he had gotten home, he realized that Jackie was still out. This thought triggered another, though he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

And then it clicked. "Sophie," he said softly, and she looked up at him, her head resting against his chest. "How about you go take a nap -" he continued speaking, despite the face she made. "And I'll clean up, and if your mum isn't home by the time I'm finished, we'll go skating."

So what if they didn't have skates. So what if neither of them _could _skate. She wanted to go, and that was what mattered.

Sophie's eyes lit up, and she grinned, revealing two rows of tiny teeth. "Yay!" she exclaimed in excitement, and Hyde noted with amusement that the way to cheer this girl up when she slipped on ice was to take her skating.

"But you have to take a nap first," he reminded her, knowing _somehow_ that she'd probably be pretty moody if she didn't get any sleep. Temper tantrums and crying were a lot of work.

She pouted a perfect Jackie-pout, and he grinned at her. "Do I have to?" she whined, following Hyde into the living room.

"Yes," he answered flatly, holding the afghan up so she could crawl onto the couch. She obediently rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes, though he was sure she'd be up the minute he left to get the groceries. He rested the blanket on top of her, and gave one last glance at his nearly sleeping daughter before going out into the cool midday air.

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 11:22 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Hyde drained his coffee and rinsed it out in the sink. A quick glance at his watch told him it had been half an hour since Sophie had fallen asleep (something he was surprised had happened at all), and he went into the living room to wake her up after scribbling a quick note to Jackie telling them where they'd be.

He paused before he fully approached his daughter, and watched her sleep, hands curled into tight fists resting right by her face; chest rising and falling regularly.

He went around to the back of the couch, so that when she woke up, she wouldn't be scared when she saw only his face. "Sophie," he said softly. "Soph. Wake up." She grunted softly, and turned onto her back, still sound asleep. "Sophie!" he said it a bit louder this time, and her eyes slowly opened, blinking as they adjusted. She stared up at him questioningly for a moment, before he reminded her of their plans.

Just like when he had first told her, Sophie's eyes lit up, and she pushed the blanket off of her, rushing to stand up. "Can we go now?" her tone was pure anticipation, and even Hyde had to laugh.

"Let's go."

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 11:48 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Again!" Sophie demanded Hyde, her voice shrill and commanding. He had been pulling her around the rink for nearly fifteen minutes, and she wasn't sick of it yet.

He was amazed that he was able to walk on the ice without falling over (for the most part). He slipped and fell on his ass once or twice, to which Sophie had a fair share of giggles over, something he thought was completely unfair since it wasn't that funny when she fell earlier that morning.

Her mitten clad hands grabbed his naked ones (mittens weren't necessary unless you were a girl, and although he'd never admit it, he wished he'd had them when he fell on the ice), and he slowly began walking backwards, watching the way her legs stiffened so she could be pulled along.

Her giggles were attracting the attention of the people around them, who smiled at the pair. Soon, they were spotted by a young man immaculately dressed, looking very out of place on the rink. "Sophie?" he asked above the din of the crowd, his face breaking out into a smile when she turned to look at him.

"Daddy!" she yelled, looking happier than she had all day.


	6. All Too Familiar

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a thing.

**Notes:** Yeah, it's been a while. I had some block with this, which is why this chapter is short, and why there's probably going to be another long break before the next one. Also, I'm doing a contest, so that will start to take up a lot of time as well. But never mind that, I hope you enjoy this, and forgive me for the unedited, less than mediocre chapter.

Thanks for the reviews :) Don't be afraid to drop me a line.

**Warnings: **Language

**Tequila Sunrise**  
Chapter 6 – All Too Familiar

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 11:50 AM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Daddy!" Sophie pulled her hands back as she turned completely around and ran to the man standing just a few feet away from her. The impact from the launch of her body towards his almost made him fall over, but he quickly regained his balance. Even Hyde had to admit that watching her run to the man she considered her father stung.

"Hi, Chicken," he said, picking her up and kissing her forehead. "Your mom said you might be here."

She threw her arms around her neck and squeezed tightly. "Are you going to come skating with us, Daddy?" Sophie's muffled voice came from somewhere near the collar of his coat.

He looked over at Hyde, awkwardly facing them, and pretended he had just noticed him for the first time. "Who's your friend, Sophie?" he questioned, putting her down on the ice.

A little hand found his, and a small body led him over to the man watching them warily. "That's Steven," she said matter of factly.

"Doug Mackenzie." He held out his hand. "I believe we've met."

Hyde glanced at him, his face blank, and shook the man's hand. "Once or twice," he said dryly. "Sophie," he said, nudging her shoulder. "I'm going to go sit over there, okay?" he gestured to the benches set aside for skaters. "You can come get me when you're ready to leave."

The young girl looked up at him, confused. "Daddy's taking me home," she said gripping Doug's hand tightly, and gazing up at Hyde with imploring eyes.

"Your dad will take you back to my house so you can see your mom, okay?" His eyes dared Doug to say otherwise.

"That's right," the other man replied cheerfully, playfully tugging at Sophie's hat. "Say goodbye to Steven, honey."

"'Bye, Steven," she chanted, flopping her mitten clad hand around.

Hyde turned around. He'd had enough of this. Making his way to the edge of the rink, he muttered a hostile response before walking, fuming, back to his car.

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 12:01 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"You're back already?" Jackie's voice rang through the nearly empty house seconds after Hyde swung open the door. She came in from the living room, a book clutched lightly in her hand. "Where's Sophie?"

He stomped the snow off his boots, trying to release some of his anger in the process. "With her _father._" His voice was hard, and his eyes cold as he stepped into the kitchen. "Jesus Christ, Jackie, what were you thinking?"

Still infuriated by his disregard for his family for the last three years, and his nerve to accuse her of doing something wrong made her bite back. "I was thinking that she needed to see her _father!_" she exclaimed, the anger building up. "You know," her tone became calmer, but had a biting sarcasm to it. "The man who raised her!"

Hyde blew out a long breath in annoyance, trying to keep his cool. He was so _sick_ of her playing that card. He had screwed up big time; even he could admit that, but she wouldn't let it go. He apologised, and he'd been trying to make up for it. "Fuck, Jackie, don't pull that out again! I'm sorry, and you know it!"

"Don't pull that out again?" her voice made it clear that she was imitating him. "Steven, I'll pull that out whenever the hell I want. Because let's face it, you screwed up! You let your daughter grow up thinking that Doug was her father! Do you know how much that's going to mess her up when she finds out that everything I told her was a lie? Do you remember how much it screwed _you_ up?"

"_Fuck._" The harsh word had no relation to the tone of voice that said it, as the speaker sank onto a kitchen chair and put his head in his hands. "Fuck," he said again, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The last thing he wanted was for Sophie to not know he was her real father – even the thought of it tore a small hole in his gut. He didn't want her to think that she was anyone else's flesh and blood; she was a _Hyde_, goddamnit, and though it may not have been the best thing in the world and may not have accounted for much, he was a Hyde, and he was pretty cool. Where had these thoughts been when he first found out about her? And why was he feeling unconditional love to someone he hardly knew?

He felt a small hand rest on his shoulder, and the voice that went with it said, hesitantly, "Steven?" He didn't give her any indication that he had heard, but she kept talking anyways, lowering herself into a chair pulled up next to his. "Steven," she repeated gently, rubbing his back. She didn't know why her mood had changed so quickly or why she was the one comforting him, but he just seemed so _vulnerable_. Suddenly, her tone changed again. And instead of a gentler form of her previous yells, it took on a hurt tone. A bewildered, hurt tone. "Why did you not come for me?"

* * *

**August 14, 1980 – 6:52 PM**  
_Madison, Wisconsin_

"Hey Hyde," Donna called from her living room, her eyes glued to a book.

"How'd you know it was me?" he came in and sat down in an armchair.

Still reading, she replied. "Eric's home, and he never makes any noise when he walks in, anyways."

The man nodded and settled into the chair before turning on the TV in his home away from home. Ever since he had moved to Madison, he had spent countless hours hanging out with Forman and Donna, because, really, living alone wasn't much fun. "Where is Forman?" he questioned calmly, flipping through the channels, pausing briefly at one before moving on to another.

"In the kitchen, trying to cook." She broke her eyes away from the novel in order to roll them. "He still won't let me try – I'm a fine cook, honestly, I am, but apparently he likes to stay under 100 pounds." After she finished talking, the two fell into a comfortable silence, one that only really comes from two people who feel completely at ease with one another. "So," Donna started casually as the Dukes of Hazzard drew into a commercial break. "Did you get an invitation yet?"

Hyde scowled, and shook his head. It was just like Jackie to not invite him to her wedding. _Stupid bitch._ It wasn't that he really wanted to go spend his precious time with a bunch of old rich guys, but it was the principle of the matter. Long before they had started dating, they had been friends. Well, acquaintances. Two people stuck in the same group, at the very least. She should feel freaking _obligated_ to invite him, not blatantly disregard one of her oldest friends and the _father of her child._

"Nope. Don't think I'm gonna, either."

Donna frowned. "Hyde, that's ridiculous. She told me she was going to invite you; I don't know what happened."

"I'll tell you what happened. She went from me," he indicated to himself. "To some rich ass bastard whose only goal in life is to get rich. She's definitely lowered her standards." He ignored the eye-roll coming from the woman across from him and continued with a smirk. "Besides," he stated proudly. "I'm crashing the reception either way."

The woman rolled her eyes, wondering if he even cared at all. Wondering if Jackie would get her head out of her ass long enough to remember him.

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 12:08 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"I don't know." His lie was quiet, so quiet Jackie had to ask him to repeat it. "I don't know," he said again, louder.

She rolled her eyes, not willing to put up with his stupidity any longer. "There has to be a reason!" she protested, standing up again. "There has to be some reason you never showed up; some reason you would disregard your own flesh and blood." Her voice was rising – sometimes she couldn't believe him. The man who had been abandoned and lied to by his parents had no excuse for doing the exact same thing.

He just kept quiet. There was no need for her to know on just how many levels her husband had fucked up his past, present, and probably future. As they both heard a car pull up in the driveway, he turned on his heel, and retreated, like he had so many times before, to his bedroom down the hall.

Jackie sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. He was being insanely difficult, as always, but this time, she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to make the effort to fight him.

"Mommy!" the door swung open, and a tiny body came barrelling towards Jackie and squeezed her leg. "Look, it's Daddy!" she exclaimed, releasing the limb and jumping up and down.

"I see that, Sophie." Turning to her ex-husband, who had now taken off his shoes and entered the kitchen, she smiled. "I take it she had fun?" she asked.

His answer was cut off by an excited yell. "I want to show Daddy my ponies!" The girl dashed towards the living room, her boots making a hard clunking noise against the floor.

"Sophie!" Jackie shrieked, moving quickly after her, and pulling off her outerwear. "Okay, now you can show Daddy."

Pulling Doug by the hand, the girl led him to the couch where their suitcase was still lying wide open. He knelt down as she began to explain the intricate stories of each of her horses, but his eyes soon fell upon a framed picture on an end table. He waited patiently for his daughter to explain the dramatics of Pony-Land before speaking up. "Who's that?" Doug gestured to the photograph.

Jackie glanced at the snapshot, a still image of a drunk Heather seated on an equally drunk Hyde's lap. It was taken in someone's house, and they were laughing at something the cameraman had said. "Steven?" she asked, referring to the man in the picture.

"The other one."

"His girlfriend, Heather."

Doug paused, and stood up. "What's her last name?"

Jackie shrugged. "How the hell should I know? She's supposed to come back sometime this week, if it's that important, I can find out."

By now, his interest had peaked. "Where is she?"

"Why do you want to know so much?"

He shrugged, and kept his answer casual. "I think I know her father."

Jackie stared at him warily for a moment before going to close up her suitcase. "I think she's on some business meetings in Minneapolis or something." She shrugged. "I don't really care either way." Doug began to walk towards the kitchen, obviously on his way out to his car. "Why do you care?" she asked again.

He pulled on his shoes. "I just find it strange," he said slowly. "I didn't think that their company was that concerned with anything out of state. I could be wrong, though." Opening the door, he shouted a final goodbye to his daughter, laughing when she came sprinting away from her toys to hug him. And with a last word and the close of a door, he was gone again.

* * *

**Monday, January 18, 1983 – 11:31 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Jackie lied on the small cot, turning the day's events over in her mind. Steven had come out of his room a few times, but hadn't said much to her. Sophie fell asleep quickly, tired from the day's events, and unable to comprehend why her father kept leaving. Unable to get comfortable, Jackie turned over until she was on her stomach. One hand hung over the edge of the bed, and she gripped the cool metal of the cot's leg, running her fingers over it, enjoying the sensation.

Suddenly, though, her fingers came in contact with some rough edges, a strange variation on the cylindrical support. After a few more passes over it, she knew without a doubt, that it was a simple "SH + JB" that had been carved haphazardly into the leg over three years ago, by a stubborn fool who wouldn't admit to anyone except for the metal of the cot that he was in love.

Pulling her hand back, she settled down once more before falling asleep on an all too familiar makeshift bed.


	7. She's Gone

**Disclaimer: **If I owned it, I would be sleeping in my fabulously luxurious mansion and not sitting on this cold hard chair.

**Notes: **Ouch. It's been a while, hasn't it? I had a bit of block on this chapter (can you tell?), but I think I'm over it, and if not … oh well, I'll be over it by next weekend. This is a kind of crappy chapter, but right now, I'm just so thrilled to have something to post.

**Warnings: **Language

**Tequila Sunrise**  
Chapter 7 – She's Gone

* * *

**October 17, 1980 – 7:14 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Ha, ha, ha," Hyde mimicked the low rumbling laughter of the people around him. "Because we're all so damn funny," he muttered darkly as the well dressed business man gave a fake sounding laugh and continued his speech with severely over exaggerated gestures and voice inclinations.

"So then I said to him, 'Well, if _she_ didn't want you, there was no way in hell anyone else would!' and you know what he replied with? 'That girl. That girl, right there.' No, ladies and gentlemen, he hadn't lost his mind, although there have been quite a few times in the years I've known him when I've wondered if he had, but his very jabbing finger was very clear. As I followed his gaze, or his point, rather, I saw he had his eye on a very attractive young girl. I told him, I warned him, I said, 'No way, Doug, no way. You'll never get her,' but he insisted that he would. And he did. Doug my old friend, congrats. Jackie, welcome."

The immaculately dressed man stepped down from the podium and took his seat at the head table as the master of ceremonies stepped up to it and started speaking. Hyde didn't hear much more than 'open bar' and Kelso's resultant cheer, but it was apparent that his little spiel ended the supper portion of the evening and began the party. Well, as much of a party a bunch of business guys could have, anyways.

He hung around their table for a while, listening to Eric and Donna yap about some of the people there or something – he wasn't paying that much attention – before deciding that his time could be much better spent drinking. Kelso and Fez had already disappeared into the crowd surrounding the dance floor, from which the first chords of _Your Song_ were starting to sound. Hyde scoffed. It was just like Jackie to choose an Elton John song as her wedding song.

_It's a little bit funny this feeling inside  
I'm not one of those who can easily hide  
I don't have much money but boy if I did  
I'd buy a big house where we both could live_

"Ladies and gentlemen," the DJ's voice cut through the brief instrumental break. "Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Mackenzie."

The cheering and clapping of the crowd drowned out Elton's next few lines, but everyone at the reception knew them anyways.

_I know it's not much but it's the best I can do  
My gift is my song and this one's for you  
And you can tell everybody that this is your song,  
It may be quite simple but, now that it's done,  
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world_

Hyde shook his head and left his chair to head to the bar, cursing to himself as he weaved his way through the crowd, and wondering why he'd even bothered to show up in the first place. With the exception of his friends, the Formans and Bob, no one wanted him there, that much was obvious, and he wouldn't crash Jackie's wedding. He may've been cold and heartless, but there was a tiny part of him, separate from his morality that kept him from doing such a thing. Ironically, it could've been, and probably was the part that she had ignited just as it was about to die.

_I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss  
Well a few of the verses, well they've got me quite cross  
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song  
It's for people like you that keep it turned on _

Pushing his way through the throngs of people, he neared the counter and eyed up the guy standing behind it. Not too offensive, not too memorable, not too brawny, and probably not too brainy. His favourite type of bartender. "Beer," he grunted, leaning against the counter, muttering a 'whatever' at the guy when he asked what kind. He cracked open the Bud handed to him while mentally preparing himself for the evening that lay ahead.

His rough idea of it? Hell.

Hell, he wasn't even sure why he'd shown up in the first place. He wasn't invited and sure didn't want to be there. Maybe it was an act of rebellion against his ex-girlfriend and her snotty, high class boyfriend. Maybe it was just the thrill (no matter how small) of sneaking into a wedding he wasn't technically supposed to attend. Or maybe it was for closure. To see the girl whose heart he'd once held married off to another man.

But most likely, it was the free booze.

He was almost back to the table when he saw something that made him freeze. Donna was sitting all alone, save for a little girl with black curly hair who he figured couldn't be more than a year old resting in her arms. And he'd be damned if he didn't have a worn picture of the same girl hidden somewhere in his room.

* * *

**Tuesday, January 19, 1983 – 2:06 PM**  
_Perkins Restaurant, Chicago, Illinois_

"So what did you want to tell me?" Heather's voice was soft as she picked at her fries. She never ordered fries.

Hyde violently jabbed his own sandwich with his fork. How the _hell_ was he supposed to tell his girlfriend that his ex and daughter were staying in her house? "How was your flight?" he asked, purposely changing the subject.

"Steven, you've asked me that nearly thirty times," she responded with a bit of a smile straining through what was beginning to resemble a concerned look. She didn't take her eyes off him as she took a sip of water. "Look, are you feeling alright?" She reached for his hand under the table, and held on tightly to his relaxed grip.

"Yeah, I'm just …" he trailed off, unsure of where to begin. "Heather, I really missed you." Despite all of her quirks, her perfections, and her controlling nature, he really had missed having her around. His grip on her hand tightened and her face softened. It was rare he showed her moments of vulnerability, no matter how slight.

"I missed you too," she replied softly. "But you need to tell me what's going on."

He sighed, and took a bite of his sandwich before even thinking of saying anything. "A few days ago," he began to speak, his eyes trained on hers. "An old friend of mine showed up needing a place to stay. I couldn't say no."

"Right …" Heather left room for continuation, knowing there was more to the story than Hyde's morality winning over his usually callous nature. When he said nothing, she rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Steven," she addressed, her tone becoming impatient. What was so bad that he couldn't just come out with it? "What's the problem? Who is it?"

"My ex-girlfriend."

Heather rolled her eyes. "That's it?" she exclaimed. "You're worried about your ex-girlfriend? What do you take me for, Steven, some axe-wielding possessive skank?"

He continued without answering. "- And my daughter."

Heather's mouth dropped open and she dropped the fry in her hand. "Your daughter?" she squeaked. "You have a daughter?"

His response was barely audible. "Yep."

"You have a kid! Why didn't I know about this?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Well it's not really everyday conversation. 'Hi honey, I'm home, oh, by the way, I have a kid with one of my exes, I hope you don't mind!'" His tone was starting to move into the irritated zone. Why did women always make such a big deal over things?

"A kid's a pretty big part of your life, Steven! How long have you known about her?"

"A few years."

Heather grabbed her purse and slammed some money down on the table. "Let's go," she said, throwing her jacket on over her shoulders.

"I'm not finished eating!" Hyde gestured to his half filled plate.

"I don't care," she clearly stated. "I don't want there to be witnesses when I kill you!"

Rolling his eyes, Hyde followed suit and slid into his jacket before trailing her out the door. "What's the big deal?" he finally mumbled as they left the warmth of the restaurant for the cool air outside.

"The big deal," she said, spinning around to poke him in the chest. "Is that you've had a kid for the last few years that you not only didn't tell me about, but have also completely ignored. What happens if we ever get married and have kids? Are you going to take off then, too?"

Even though Hyde knew he was in the wrong, he said nothing to indicate his knowledge of this. "You know what Heather," he hissed, letting his anger at screwing up so badly take over him and set loose on her. "It's none of your damn business, so just stay the fuck out." Grabbing his keys from his pocket, he stalked over to the el Camino and slid into the driver's seat, slamming the door behind him before shoving the keys in the ignition. It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

**October 17, 1980 – 7:42 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Just as he was about to duck back into the crowd and avoid all uncomfortable confrontations that were sure to arise if he returned to his seat, the people in front of him cleared away, and Donna spotted him. Damn people. The whole world was out to get him.

"Hyde!" she exclaimed, rising slightly and waving her free arm to get his attention.

She'd spotted him. There was no going back now. "Hey Donna," he acknowledged as he neared the table, purposely ignoring the girl in her arms.

_So excuse me forget, but these things I do  
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue  
Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean  
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen _

"Thank God I found you!" the woman cried as he sat down. "Fez, Kelso, and Eric all took off somewhere. I'm not sure where they are, but I'm sure they're not doing anything good. And just when I was about to go look for them, some strange woman came and handed me So – Sara here. Apparently Jackie told her to just give her to the big redheaded amazon, because she'd take good care of her." Hyde rolled his eyes. Did Donna really think he'd believe some shit story about a strange woman dumping her child on her? "So I had to wait until I saw someone because I wasn't going into what could potentially be an impending firecracker explosion with a little kid, and Kitty and Red and Dad left for the bar just after the three Stooges went looking for something to blow up, and they're not going to be back any time soon.."

"Riiiiight," Hyde said, taking a sip of beer. "You're telling me all this … why?"

"I need a baby sitter," she replied with a smile that only told him she was planning something. "Here, take Serena." She held out the baby, despite the incredulous look on his face.

"Nope," he grinned, watching the expression on her face as she fought the internal battle he knew was going on inside her head. "I don't do babysitting."

"I don't care what you 'do', Hyde," she snapped. "Unless you want to find three of your oldest friends blown up tomorrow morning, I suggest you just suck it up and take the freaking kid."

_And you can tell everybody this is your song  
It may be quite simple but, now that it's done,  
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world _

He shrugged and pretended to inspect the beer can. "I always knew Kelso was going to blow himself up sooner or later," he replied nonchalantly. "Guess it's sooner rather than later, huh?"

"Take the damn kid, Hyde. Or I swear to god, I'll tell everyone what happened when you and Eric met."

Hyde smirked at her. "Gonna have to do better than that, Big D," he taunted cockily. "Everyone's already heard that story."

"Fine," she said. "I was going to go easy on you, but have it your way. If you don't do what I say, I'll tell everyone what happened when you first met Kelso."

Taking another swig of his beer, Hyde begrudgingly held out his hands. "Give me the kid," he said, ignoring Donna's triumphant look.

As the redhead walked away, Hyde lowered the girl onto his knee, and turned her around so she was facing him. For a moment he just looked at her, not entirely believing that she was right here. Black curls framed a heart shaped face, and in a moment of extreme weakness, he reached his hand up to tug gently on one of the locks he knew came from him. Her blue eyes stared up unblinkingly as he ran a hesitant finger along the side of her face. She was his. For a brief moment, he forgot that the girl would never see him as her father, never even know that there was a man out there with curly hair and blue eyes who fit her much better than Doug ever would, and for a moment, it was almost enough for him to approach Jackie and tell her that he'd fucked up, big time, and he wanted to make it up. But something held him back. Something in her big eyes kept him grounded, and he realized that he wasn't sure he could give her the future she needed. He was scared he'd get scared and leave her, and he hated himself for that.

_I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words how wonderful life is  
While you're in the world  
_

* * *

**Tuesday, January 19, 1983 – 2:31 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Mommy, look!" Sophie's delighted giggle pulled Jackie out of her trance. She got up and went to where her daughter was delightedly pointing at the TV.

"That's pretty neat, huh, Soph?" The girl's excited squeal brought a small smile to her mother's face, the first on that had graced it all day. Jackie was just about to go back to her house hunting when she heard a car pull up outside. Her heart skipped a beat as she quickly glanced out the front window. An angry looking Hyde sat inside of the car while a blonde woman occupying the passenger's seat apparently tore into him. Jackie could see her mouth moving, and could only assume that he was in more trouble with her than he'd ever been before.

It was going to be a long afternoon.


	8. I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Notes: **Thanks to all you guys who reviewed :) I'm going to try to start replying to reviews, so if you don't want me clogging up your inbox, just say so. Hope you like this chapter. It's a bit boring, and nothing really gets done, but oh well. I also highly recommend you listen to Angie by the Rolling Stones during the first scene (if you search "Angie The Rolling Stones" on youtube, the second one's pretty good), but of course it's up to you. Enjoy :)

**Warnings: **Language

**Tequila Sunrise**  
Chapter 8 – I'm Sorry

* * *

**December 3, 1978 – 12:58 AM**  
Point Place, Wisconsin

_Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear  
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here_

"I used to really like this song," Hyde mused, his voice muffled by his girlfriend's hair. She shifted slightly and tightened her grip on his hand. "But now it only reminds me that I have a sister."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

He slowly exhaled, watching in amusement as her hair moved in time with his breath. Again, he breathed out, keeping his eyes trained on the black strands in front of him. "Heh."

"Hm?" she replied, having not yet realized he hadn't said anything of importance. Upon realising her mistake, she promptly elbowed him. "Steven, answer my question."

_With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats  
You can't say we're satisfied  
But Angie, Angie, you can't say we never tried._

"Ow!" he exclaimed, immediately moving his hand to the sore spot. "What the hell, Jackie?"

"Sorry." There was a pause. "Do you really wish you didn't have a sister?" For a minute, he was silent, and she began to wonder if he had fallen asleep. "Steven?"

"What Jackie?" his voice sounded heavier than it had a minute ago, and she felt bad for keeping him up with her unceasing chatter, but he had ignited her curiosity, and now she had to know the answer.

She huffed, and repeated the question for the third time.

"Does it matter?" he asked, purposely avoiding her question.

"Yes," she insisted, beginning to wonder why he was putting off answering her. "What's the big deal?"

"I don't know," he muttered, breaking away from her and shifting so he was on his back. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

She also turned over, and leaned into his side, letting her hand fall on her chest. "You brought it up," Jackie pointed out, as she skimmed her fingers along the top of his chest hair.

_Angie, you're beautiful, but ain't it time we said goodbye  
Angie, I still love you  
Remember all those nights we cried?_

"Yeah, well forget I ever said anything." He snaked his arm underneath his girlfriend's body and rested his hand on the side of her rear. The two lied there for a while, not moving, but listening to the radio as the song filled the room. Hyde let the soft chords overtake his senses, which had almost lulled him to sleep when Jackie clear her throat softly, a sure sign she was about to start talking. It was all he could do to keep from groaning in frustration as he was being promised at least another ten minutes of conversation with his loudmouthed girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, Steven," she said softly, offering no explanation to the out of place phrase.

He was too tired to care. "What?" he murmured, being careful to not open his eyes. That might imply that he was willing to stay up all night and talk to her, and he had already spent all day doing just that.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, a bit more forcefully. "I forced you to meet your father, and maybe if you hadn't, you'd be a little happier."

_All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke  
Let me whisper in your ear:  
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?  
_  
He groaned and turned onto his side to face her. "Jackie, where the hell did you get that idea?" She half shrugged, and he rolled his eyes. "Listen to me." Hyde waited to speak until her eyes met his, and even then, he took a minute to roll the ends of her hair between his thumb and finger. "I don't regret meeting W.B.," he informed her, watching carefully for her reaction. He figured she must have been mulling over this ever since he first made the comment. "Or Angie," he hastily added in. "I'm sure that at more than one point in my life, I'll be glad to know that W.B.'s my father instead of Bud, okay?"

She nodded, and opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off before she had the chance. "And I'm never happy, okay? Just less angry." Jackie grinned at him, and he smiled back. "Can I go to sleep now?" he asked, figuring he deserved a good night's sleep after having to console his girlfriend.

"Sure," she assented, resting her head on his shoulder as he lied back down.

_Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet  
I hate that sadness in your eyes  
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said good-bye?_

"Steven?" she asked a few minutes later.

"What, Jackie?" he asked between clenched teeth, trying to keep the killing tone out of his voice. Was falling asleep really too much to ask?

"Why'd you say that, then?"

He didn't even have to ask what she meant. "I don't know. I liked the song, but now it reminds me of my bossy, controlling half sister. Is it wrong that that kind of killed the song for me?"

She giggled softly. "Nope," she replied, snuggling into him. "'Night, Steven."

He grinned and tightened his grip on her. "'Night, Jackie. And thank you."

She didn't have to ask what he was thanking her for. She already knew.

_With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats  
You can't say we're satisfied  
But Angie, I still love you, baby_

* * *

**Tuesday, January 19, 1983 – 2:33 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

Jackie forced herself to focus on the newspaper in front of her. _Don't look up,_ she told herself. _Don't look up until he comes in._ Dropping the pen she was holding, she pressed her palm to the table to stop the shaking. Why was she nervous? She wasn't doing anything. She went to a friend when she needed help. The sound of the turning doorknob caused her eyes to briefly flick up before she regained composure and forced them back down again.

The opening of the door and the absolute, unexpected quiet that came with it almost startled the woman at the table. She finally gave in to the urge to raise her head, and rose immediately after. "Steven," she said cautiously, as if testing the waters. She ignored his inquisitive glance, and instead focused her attention on the blue eyed woman beside him. "Heather?" she ventured, feeling strange welcoming this woman into her own house.

"You're Jackie?" Heather asked with a smile. "I'm Heather Lowenstein." After hanging her jacket up, she made her way over to the woman uncomfortably standing in the middle of her kitchen to shake her hand.

"Jackie Mackenzie," she replied slowly, trying to discern if Heather was being fake or not. She sure as hell wouldn't have been this nice to any of her boyfriends' ex-girlfriends.

Heather motioned at the table, purposely ignoring her boyfriend. "Do you want anything to eat?" she offered, moving towards the counter. "Coffee, anything?"

"No, no." Jackie declined, rushing to the living room and grabbing Sophie. "We were just about to head out to go, uh, car shopping. Thank you, though," she added lamely, pushing past Hyde to get their coats. The couple silently watched as Jackie hurried to get both of them outside, obviously uncomfortable in their house.

* * *

**Tuesday, January 19, 1983 – 2: 51 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

_Fuck._ What the hell was that? Jackie squeezed her eyes shut, and continued to tug Sophie along behind her. Opening them again, she was initially blinded by the harsh light reflecting off the snow, but managed to keep a look out for a convenience store or someplace that would have a payphone. There was no way she was walking around Chicago in the dead of winter.

Behind her, Sophie was being uncharacteristically quiet. "Mommy, where are we going?"

Jackie tried to sort it out in her own head. Where _were_ they going? She knew that she first wanted to find a payphone, but beyond that, she had no idea. They could go look at apartments, she realized when she remembered that she had stuffed the classifieds in her purse before leaving. Maybe even go look for a car? She was so sick of being dependent of someone else. And not even one of her friends, either. She had to be dependent on Steven of all people. Steven and his blue eyed blonde girlfriend.

As she turned into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven, she decided her best bet would be to start with an old car. She hated old cars, but as of right then, that was all she could afford. The last time she spoke to Doug, he told her that she could still access all of her accounts, and he would keep putting money in them until they got financially settled. Even though she figured most of it was for Sophie's benefit, she could, and needed to stretch the money.

Jackie had been pampered almost her whole life. When she was young, her parents gave her anything her heart desired. From dolls to Barbies, from unicorns to dress up clothes, she had it all. As she got a little bit older, though, their materialistic support began to lessen until she was left with nothing but the dolls and unicorns she had received as a kid. She still had money, there was no doubt about that. Jack Burkhart would never let his family go to tatters, but she'd had to ration it. Put off some things for more important others like food and clothing. She'd worked her way through school, drawing on the reserve funds only for tuition and books. She made her living herself until she met Doug who had provided for her. And how easily she fell into her old life again. Anything she wanted, she got. It was such a good change after the last five years.

_My life goes in cycles,_ she thought bitterly as she deposited a coin into the payphone. She was back to rationing out her funds.

* * *

**February 21, 1977 – 9:21 PM**  
_Point Place, Wisconsin_

Her shaking hands barely allowed for her to put the needle down. The first two times she tried, she pulled it away, afraid of scratching the record. She finally got it to work, and flung herself down on her bed immediately after, burying her face in the pillow she had grabbed from his room on a whim while she had been searching for the album.

_It's cold here in the city  
It always seems that way  
And I've been thinking about you almost everyday_

God she hated this. How had she gone from being the girl everyone envied one minute to the girl with no parents the next? Of course people still envied her, but maybe not as much as they once had. Everyone could see through the image that the Burkhart family had been projecting for years, to the inside, which was although once warm, was now cold and dark. And empty. Her father was in jail, her mother was off vacationing somewhere, and she was stuck in a Wisconsin winter having a midlife crisis, and her own boyfriend couldn't even comfort her.

The last thought brought a new wave of tears, and she clutched the pillow tighter, breathing in his scent – a mix of shampoo, soap, and aftershave. She hadn't smelled him in such a long time, and images of her on her daddy's lap immediately came to mind. Before everything began to fall apart, and before she realized she may not lead the perfect life she had once thought.

_Thinking about the good times  
Thinking about the rain  
Thinking about how bad it feels alone again_

For a moment, she just lied still, not moving, not crying, barely even breathing. Just letting the words wash over her, letting John Denver's voice soothe her. She didn't realize it, but she must've been relaxing because the rattling of her doorknob nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Jackie?"

She turned around to find Hyde standing in the doorway of her very girly, very pink room, looking very uncomfortable. Jackie didn't say anything, only looked, and he became very unnerved by her lack of talking. He took a step towards her only to stop and glance in disgust at the record player in the corner when her music finally sunk in. Still feeling very out of place, he tried to turn the attention towards her. She saw it coming, and tried to convey to him not to say it, but either he didn't understand, didn't care, or was desperate to get away from his uneasy feeling. "What the hell is this crap, Jackie?"

_I'm sorry for the way things are in China  
I'm sorry things ain't what they used to be  
But more than anything else  
I'm sorry for myself  
'Cause you're not here with me_

That did it. She threw herself back onto the bed, sobbing into the pillow again. Hyde rolled his eyes. Not only did he have an overemotional girl on his hands, now, he also had to put up with bad music. He only came prepared for one thing, so he spun on his heel and stopped the music before moving towards the bed.

He had never been in Jackie's room before, though he had heard horror stories from Kelso about the sheer … pinkness of it all. _He wasn't kidding,_ he reflected in disgust, as he stiffly sat down beside his sobbing girlfriend and tentatively placed a hand on her back.

"Jackie?" he said, feeling a burst of confidence when she did pull away from him.

Hyde rolled his eyes when he heard a muffled, "Go away, Hyde." He should've seen that coming.

"Jackie, listen," he said, trying to keep the annoyed tone out of his voice, and instead forced himself to focus on how it felt to realize that, at least for a short period of time, you were alone in the world. "Jackie, I'm really sorry." His hand began to move up and down her back, eventually coming to rest at the end of her hair.

She sniffled and sat up. To her, right then, it didn't matter that she was mad at him for saying stupid things. She just wanted someone to comfort her. "He used to listen to John Denver all the time," she told him softly, clutching the pillow to her body. "He said it calmed him down."

Ah, shit. He should've figured out that country wasn't just Jackie's bad taste in music. Not knowing what to say kept him quiet.

"Even when I was really little," she continued. "Sometimes, I could find him in the arm chair in his office, listening to him. I'd go sit on his lap, and he'd tell me stories." She squeezed her eyes shut, and swallowed before speaking again. "That was a long time ago."

Knowing there was nothing he could say, and not knowing what else to do, Hyde moved towards her and awkwardly put his arms around her. He couldn't recall the last time he'd willingly comforted someone, and he didn't know what to do. Fortunately, she did, and she basically invited herself onto his lap. They sat like that for many minutes until Hyde began to lose feeling in his feet. While trying to find a more comfortable position, he realized she was asleep.

He laid her down on her bed and was just walking out the door when her voice stopped him.

"Steven?" she murmured, her tone weighed down by her emotions.

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay with me tonight?"

Turning slowly, he slid out of his boots and removed his jeans before sliding into her bed. She'd be alright, he knew, but it would take some time.


	9. History Repeats Itself

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Notes: **A bit of a short chapter this time around, but I'm just please I could get this out on time. :P Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, and anyone can feel free to drop me on this chapter 

**Warning: **Language

**Tequila Sunrise**  
Chapter 9 – History Repeats Itself

* * *

**Tuesday, January 19, 1983 – 2:35 PM**  
_Chicago, Illinois_

"Well that was … pleasant." Heather's voice was flat as she gave the now shut door one more glance. "Is she always that jumpy?"

Silently, Hyde shook his head and hung up his jacket as his girlfriend went to make coffee. Easing his way towards the living room, he kept his eyes on Heather's still turned back. He figured if he could make his way to the couch and plop down and watch TV before she caught him, he might be home free. For the next few minutes, anyways. Unfortunately, a squeaky area of the floor gave him away, and he cursed himself for losing concentration and giving himself up so easily.

Slowly, Heather turned around to face him. "What's her name, Steven?" she asked softly.

Hyde stared at her silently. She had switched moods fast. "Is that a trick question?" he asked cautiously, wondering what she had up her sleeve.

"What?" Her expression was pure confusion. "No."

"Oh." He paused, trying to figure out if she was lying or not. He knew she was good at mind games. "Sophie."

"Sophie what?" Heather's eyes were narrowing.

It struck Hyde that he had never bothered to find out. It had never even crossed his mind. He'd just assumed Jackie gave her Doug's name, since she'd reminded him time and time again about how Doug was really her father. "I don't know," he replied, taking a seat at the table. He figured this was going to take a while. "I never asked."

Heather slid into the chair across from him. "That would've been the first thing I said," she mused, twisting her ring around on her finger. He had to keep from scoffing. Of course it would've been. Heather was so damn _practical_. She was so neat; she was so calculated; she was his complete opposite. People thought that him and Jackie were different – but they'd never met Heather. She had grown up the same way she lived now, and he wondered what the hell it was about her that attracted him. Maybe it was just that – the complete lack of spontaneity balanced out his unpredictable way of life.

The pair remained silent for the next few minutes, until the point when Hyde began to wonder if she was just going to drop it then and there. God, he wished she would. They both knew he'd screwed up, hell, _everyone_ knew he'd screwed up. Why couldn't she just leave it at that?

"I can't believe you did that, Steven." Her voice was quiet, and she kept her eyes fixed on the table. She never made eye contact when she was upset with him. Everyone else, she'd stare down, but the most he ever got was the occasional flickering glance towards his face. "After all the stuff that happened with your dad, you were the last person I'd ever expect that from."

Hyde winced when she mentioned Bud. He'd never told her about Edna running off, figuring that in the long run, it didn't really matter. He'd always kind of meant to tell her, but the thought was buried at the back of his mind, and it never really became an urgent issue. Sometimes, on the hot summer nights when they were lying awake for hours, the blankets kicked aside and the breeze coming in through the window, he'd thought about it. He'd always preferred telling her things like that in the dark, so he didn't se how she reacted. It was easier than just coming out with it right away and risking people thinking that maybe he was just telling them for sympathy.

He hated sympathy.

Hyde sighed heavily. "Yeah, well, you were wrong," he replied flatly, not bothering to try and defend himself just yet.

Heather got up to get coffee and didn't speak again until she sat down. "God," she expelled. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Why are you so worked about it?" he ground out. "She's not your damn kid!"

"Because, Steven," Heather shot right back at him without missing a beat. "If we ever get married and have kids, I want to know that you're not going to run out on them! I need to know that you can break away from this mould that you've set for yourself. You're so _damn_ positive that you'll end up like Bud, Steven, and I want to see if it's true."

Damn it. He'd never told her any of that. He'd never given her any inclination to think any of the things she'd just voiced. Hell, they weren't even true. He was fairly convinced that him turning into Bud wasn't a real threat – if anything, having a father who acted like that reinforced his desire not to have history repeat itself. "I never walked out on any of them," he informed her quietly. "Sophie hadn't met me before this weekend. Jackie left me."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever makes you sleep better at night, Steven."

God, she was frustrating. "Heather, I'm not here to play your mind games," he finally ground out. "Jackie gave me an ultimatum when we were younger. She left before I gave her my answer, and she took off to Chicago. I went after her, but chickened out before I could get to her motel, figured I could spend the rest of my life without her, got a room, and stayed the night. The next morning, I went home. Stayed for a few weeks, found out from Jackie's best friend that she was pregnant – _with my kid_ – and then I left. I went with my friends to Madison, and when they finished school, I moved here."

"You still knew," his girlfriend observed quietly.

"Heather, I don't have to put up with this. I told you what happened. You have no idea about any part of my relationship with Jackie, so just drop it, okay." Leaving his chair, he grabbed his jacket as his girlfriend watched him storm out.

_Fuck._ She wanted to come home to a relaxing afternoon with her boyfriend. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she forced herself to keep back tears. It didn't look like that would be happening any time soon.

* * *

**Sunday, July 10, 1969 – ****6:42 AM**  
_Point Place, Wisconsin_

A sharp bang and a loud curse woke up the little boy sleeping in the next room. He squeezed his eyes shut, and willed sleep to come again, but the noises were growing more insistent. There was a constant series of rustles and bangs, with a few choice words thrown in for good measure. The young boy opened his eyes and focused on his Cowboys and Indians sheets. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine he was Deputy Hyde, and he had to chase the Indians away from the white man's land.

However, no amount of pretend games could silence his father's loud voice, and against his better judgment, he left the warm comfort of his bed to peek out into the living room. "Dad?" he said in surprise, as Bud Hyde dragged a stuffed suitcase towards the door. Getting no answer, he stepped into the room occupied by his father. "Dad," he asked, suddenly frightened. "Where're you going?"

Startled by his son's voice, Bud almost dropped the suitcase. "Out," he replied simply.

Steven nodded, his eyes wide. "When're you coming back?"

Bud laughed hollowly, no trace of humour detectable in his voice. "Never."

Steven bit his lip as he watched his father walk out the front door before turning around and running back to his bed. Bud had never been nice to him, but he'd never hit him, either. Burying his face in his pillow, he felt the first few tears leak out. He'd left because he hated him, Steven was sure of that. He drove his own father away. He was always complaining about how they had to pay extra for groceries because of The Kid, and how they could be spending money on something worthwhile if they didn't have to clothe The Kid. He talked about how he could be doing great things if he didn't have a kid.

Clutching his pillow, Steven buried his face in the centre of it. He'd driven his own father away forever, and his mother would just have another reason to hate him.


End file.
